EC to meet all political parties individually this week

The Elections Commission Sunday decided that it would meet all the political parties individually to discuss matters pertaining to the upcoming presidential elections.

The commission had earlier stated that it would be meeting all political parties in one sitting and a meeting was scheduled to last Thursday for all the parties to get together.

However, after the meeting got cancelled, the Elections Commission members convened on Sunday and decided that it would meet all the political parties separately instead.

“Our aim is to be as attentive as possible with each party and clear any doubts they may have. Hopefully, we can begin the meetings this week,” commission member Ahmed Akram said.

He added that the commission would also be discussing ways to monitor and regulate political parties.

While the anticipated presidential election has been slated for September, the opposition continues to allege that the ruling party asserts its influence on the commission members and claims it is biased.

However, the commission members have refuted these claims and said that it would carry out this year’s presidential election in a free and fair manner, as it did with the Local Council Elections of 2017.

The Elections Commission earlier stated that the presidential elections this year would be more inclusive than any other election that has been held in the Maldives so far, and assured that the electoral process would be transparent.